Pictured is Lakeview school in Negaunee. (Photo courtesy of Virginia Paulson, the Negaunee Historical Society)

NEGAUNEE — When school starts on Tuesday, Lakeview school in Negaunee will begin its 75th year.

A bond proposal for a new elementary school was approved by the voters in Negaunee in 1949. Construction of the new school near Teal Lake got underway in the spring of 1950, under the tenure of Superintendent Glenn Kelly. The first students were welcomed in September 1951 and the building’s first principal was Saima Kuivila, a Negaunee High School graduate and middle school teacher.

There was one classroom for each grade, K-6, a cafeteria and a library. The adjoining Lakeview Memorial Gymnasium would be dedicated on Nov. 20, 1951 to the veterans of America’s wars prior to the first home basketball game for the 1951-52 season.

In 1961, during the tenure of Superintendent A.B. Haist, the first addition to the school was completed. Eight classrooms and a large cafeteria/multi-purpose room were added to the north side of the school. With the school population growing and St. Pauls’ School closing, in 1975 the Negaunee schools rented the building, serving grades two through six and referred to it as the Central Grade Annex. And in 1982, Lakeview had the second  major expansion with the addition of 14 classrooms, a greenhouse and a new library/media center. Lakeview could now serve all grade school children.

Currently Lakeview serves grades K-4. During Jim Derocher’s superintendency, another addition took place on the south east side of the building which contains classrooms for special education. The concession area and hall of fame are a product of 2020 (circa) during Dan Skewis’s superintendency.

Other facts of Negaunee’s history of education: Negunee’s first graduating class consisted of 10 students and they received their diplomas at the MacDonald Opera House. In 1881, the high school had only four women teachers. English and Latin were the main courses of study, but in 1893, the first student graduated from a scientific course. In 1895, music was introduced but it was at the student’s expense. In 1895 the Park Street school was built on the East end to serve the children in that area and razed due to mine cave ins. In 1898, the commercial course came into being and a manual training course was added to the curriculum.

After 25 years of slow but steady progress, Negaunee had graduated 232 students from 1895-1900. A number of men had become associated with mining companies and some attended college. The commercial course graduates became bookkeepers, clerks in banks and others were involved in railroad and insurance fields. Women became homemakers and teachers. The first yearbook was published in 1902, The Negauneensian” (copies at the musuem.)

The Great Depression years forced the termination of this publication and it didn’t begin again until 1953, with the name “Pioneer.”  In 1907, the Negaunee High School was built on the corner of Teal Lake Avenue and Peck Street and demolished in 1988. In 1912, physical education was introduced in the schools.

Mr. Doolittle served as superintendent for 26 years. He secured funding for the Central Grade School, instituted a free dental clinic with a dentist’s office in the school, started a bus program and added a third floor to the manual training building for a band program. In 1952, E. W. Born was hired as superintendent. He installed a hot lunch program for all schools. He established a library on the third floor of the Central Grade School. Mr. Born’s greatest contribution to the school system was the annexation of Negaunee and Richmond Township Schools into the city school system.

The specific ore tax from the Empire Mine was a godsend to the budget with the closing of the Mather B. Mine. Mr. Robert Northey was the first graduate of Negaunee High school to become superintendent. Mr. Northey added three concrete tennis courts on Arch Street which were flooded for skating in the winter.

Robert Northey, Dan Skewis and currently, Andy Skewis are Negaunee High graduates serving the district as superintendent. In conclusion, here are some facts: In 1879 there were about 760 students, in 1979 there were 2,005 students, in 2024, there were 1,552 students. In the year 1881, there were four teachers and in 1979 there were 104 teachers and 45 other staff members.

In 2024 there were 204 on staff, teachers, aides, bus drivers, custodians, etc. Have a great first day of school even if it’s only a memory.